


Birth of a Star

by litra



Category: Booster Gold (Comics), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Comics/Movie Crossover, Gen, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 06:49:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10328474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: Lily Stein is contacted by another time traveler who offers her some insight on temporal mechanics and the advantages of being an aberration.





	

“I don’t know skeets, are you sure we’re in the right place or… time?”

Lily stopped with her key in her hand. Hearing voices inside inside her home, when there definitely shouldn’t be any wasn’t comforting but when those voices were talking about time travel, and when she’d just gotten the truth out of her dad about the whole time aberration thing, well it was a little bit terrifying.

“Yes sir,” another smaller and higher pitched voice said. “According to the temporal archive the Legends should have just left this time on the way to save Washington. We have a few weeks before they are scheduled to return.”

She swallowed. Okay definitely time travelers. So… what should she do? Her dad was off time traveling. There was the Flash maybe. Her dad knew the Flash he could help, if she had any idea how to contact him. What did they want? Well, obviously they wanted her, they were in her house. 

She stepped into the flower bed and cupped a hand to peek in through the curtains of the front window. She could see one of them. He was wearing some kind of blue and gold suit. She couldn’t see the other one. He was sitting on her couch and fiddling with a book she’d left on the table. Nothing was knocked over, nothing was out of place, at least in the sliver of room she could see. That was odd. What did that mean?

Well, they weren’t there to rob her, or go through her dad’s things. He’d said that the Legends were gone which meant they weren’t setting a trap for them. Indicating it was a trap for her, but to what end? Did they just straight up want to kill her? If they were time travelers then why here and now? Did they want to kidnap her, use her as leverage against her dad?

That made more sense, but there was only one way to test her hypothesis. 

Lily slowly stepped back away from the window and fished around in her bag for her pepper spray. They almost definitely had her outgunned but if she could surprise them….

The back door opened with only the smallest of clicks. They were still talking in the front room.

“I don’t know, it’s just been a while since...”

“I know sir.”

“But it’s a big choice. All of time a space to protect you know? And you know what’s happening to him right now? If he’s...”

“Yes sir, but the Legends will be there.”

Lily forced herself to breathe slowly. If they were protecting time, that probably meant they wanted to kill her after all, her being, what she was.  Well, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

She spun around the corner, pepper spray up and shouted, “Hands up.” Her voice squeaked but at least her hands were steady. The man in gold was still on the couch. Where was the second man? She’d heard him, he was supposed to be right there.

“You see sir?” said a small gold egg thing that was hovering a few feet to the man’s left.

Okay, robot, she could work with that, that was actually really cool.

The man slowly raised his hands, still holding her book in one of them, except he was smiling.

“You must be Lily Stein?”

She hesitated, then jerked her head. “And who are you?”

“Booster Gold.”

“That’s not a name.”

“But it is the first rule of time travel. Don’t let anyone know who you are or they could kill you before you become a threat. You’ll need to choose an alias as well, if you accept my offer.”

She blinked and her hands dropped slightly before she remembered and brought them up again, “Offer?”

Booster nodded, “what did your dad tell you about the Time Masters?”

She hesitated again, looking between the man and his robot.

“I can assure you miss Stein,” the robot said, “we are not here to hurt you in any way.”

“Obviously,” Booster said, rolling his eyes at the robot.

“She is still pointing pepper spray at you sir.”

He glanced back at her, “Okay, point. What he said.”

“So you’re here to make me an offer instead?

“Yep.”

“Is this the kind of offer I can’t refuse?”

He opened his mouth, then hesitated, “That was a reference right? Sorry, I’m from the future. In my time that has a slightly different meaning.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess it is. I just,” She realized she had started fiddling with the edge of her sleeve, and refocused on him. “Are you going to kill me if i say no?”

“Not at all, so, can I put my arms down?”

Lily considered the possibility of this being a trap. He could be trying to get her to let her guard down. But if he was telling the truth? It wasn’t like she could do much damage with a bit of pepper spray when him being from the future was an obvious truth, given the robot and the suit. She really wanted to get a look at the suit. The microfibers alone were clearly at least a decade ahead of her time and the belt….

“Okay.” She slid the pepper spray back into her bag, “But if you try anything, well, I know the Flash.”

He was nodding, but he was also smiling, so she wasn’t sure if he was taking her seriously. With her hands empty she nearly started fiddling again.

“So, ummm.”

“Sir,” the robot prompted.

“Right, yeah, the time masters.” Booster cleared his throat. “I am one of the time masters, but the new time masters.” He held up his hands and went on before she could say anything. “The old time masters got out of control. They lost sight of the reasons we do these jobs, to protect people. Rip Hunter he, well, one day he’s going to start rebuilding the time masters. Not the Legends like with your dad because everyone already knows about them. They’re big public figures, at least in the time traveling community. Time Masters have to be a bit more subtle, and Shit, how do I explain this Skeets?”

“I believe what Sir is trying to say is that we would like you to join us.”

Lily slowly sank into an armchair. “You’re asking me to become a time traveler?”

“Not just a time traveler. The time masters are supposed to protect the timeline from anyone who wants to change history for their own ends. You. You’re unique.”

“A time aberration I know, my dad told me.” She looked down at her hands, clasping them in her lap. 

“Exactly!”

Something clenched in her chest. The way everyone had looked at her on the ship came flooding back. It was like she had cancer or something, as if she was already dead, just hadn’t stopped moving yet.

Booster stood, “I mean you already would have been a prime candidate. You’re incredibly intelligent and innovative, and brave. You found out I was here and you well,” he gestured around them. “But You’re an aberration. It’s perfect.”

She looked up, “What?”

He met her eyes, practically vibrating with excitement. “You, your place in history, it's flexible, temporally speaking, you’re a variable you’re... Skeets you explain it.”

“To put it simply, because you are not supposed to exist, you can not be targeted.”

“Yes, exactly,” Booster pointed at Skeets, “Every time traveler has a way to keep track of the timeline, and the different changes they make, but because you are one of the changes, you wont show up on the main timeline for anyone other than the one who made the change, and since that’s your father, you don’t exactly have to worry about him trying to kill you. 

“I mean, if you want to live a normal life, fine, great. Except you’ll never be allowed to live up to your full potential because your full potential is amazing and you’d change the future. But if you come with me, become a time master, a hero.” He held out his hand, passion pouring off his features.

Lily slowly rose to her feet. “You’re serious?”

“It will be dangerous,” Skeets added.

She bit her lip, “I, how do I know I can trust you?”

Booster’s face fell, “I would tell you to ask Rip Hunter, but he’s kind of out of commission at the moment. You don’t have to decide now.” He added hastily. “Just before the Legends come back so…” he looked at Skeets.

“Four weeks and two days.” the robot supplied.

“Right, though sooner would be better.” 

“But I, I don’t have powers or, I mean I know I’m smart, but there’s a difference between intelligence and being able to do what you’re talking about.”

“Not as much as you’d think actually. A lot of it’s just being able to think on your feet.”

He stood there smiling at her. Her hands were fiddling with the hems of her sleeves again. Was this how her dad had felt when he’d been recruited? The opportunity. The uncertainty.

“Okay,”

Booster cocked his head, “Okay?”

“I’ll come with you.”

He offered his hand, “Then welcome to the team, Goldstar.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I have feels about the way they treated Lily. and I kept yelling at the screen to just take her time traveling, because there's no way she could affect the time stream then. And then that somehow merged with the who thing where Booster is Rip's dad in the comics, and then there was this. Shrug :)


End file.
